Syrian opposition forces fire a rocket at a government building during the clashes in Aleppo on 13 April. (photo: Salih Mahmud Leyla/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Syria rebels attack government intelligence center in Aleppo(New York Times) Syrian militants, including members of Al Qaeda’s local branch, attacked a government intelligence center in the northern city of Aleppo, damaging much of the building by blowing up a tunnel under it, activists said Tuesday…

Rebels attack Assyrian quarter in Aleppo, 40 killed(AINA) Syrian opposition forces launched a sustained attack on Aleppo beginning on Friday evening, 10 April, and ending on Saturday afternoon. The attack left massive destruction in eastern Aleppo, which is predominantly Assyrian and Armenian. Twenty people, mostly Assyrians, were killed. Opposition forces also used explosive drums at a popular market in central Maadi district in Aleppo, killing more than 20 civilians, including women and children…

Middle East Christians trapped by extremists forge alliances with former foes(Wall Street Journal) Throughout the Middle East, many Christians, under attack and without the protection of functioning states, face difficult choices amid the region’s roiling sectarian conflicts. Some are taking sides, others are taking up arms. In Iraq and Syria, for example, Christians fight alongside Kurds against Islamic State, even though some Christians accuse the Kurds of seeking to one day incorporate them and their land into Kurdish-controlled territories. Christians in Lebanon, meanwhile — long viewed as the region’s most empowered and assertive — “are 10 times weaker than they were in 1975,” said the Rev. Fadi Daou, a Lebanese Maronite Catholic priest…

I.O.C.C. assists Syrian families escaping bloodshed In Idlib(I.O.C.C.) As the security and humanitarian situation in Idlib, Syria, continues to deteriorate following escalated fighting this past weekend, International Orthodox Christian Charities, working in partnership with the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, is providing emergency medical assistance, hygiene kits and personal care items to displaced Idlib families who have fled to the Syrian port city of Lattakia…

Fighting in Ukraine defies cease-fire(Al Jazeera) Fighting raged overnight and in the early hours on Tuesday on the outskirts of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine despite an agreement reached by the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers a day earlier. Heavy shelling was heard in Donetsk late Monday evening and in the early hours on Tuesday…

Divorce in Gaza comes at steep price(Al Monitor) In Gazan courts, judges permit female-initiated divorces in several cases, including a husband’s imprisonment, abandonment and sexual impotency. Another way to end marriage is divorce by khula, whereby a wife financially compensates her husband…